2 years ago

In what way might the expansion of Islam have contributed to the European expansion in the modern era?
Europeans sought to convert new people to Christianity to counteract Islamic influence.
Europeans were desperate to get to China before the Chinese were converted to Islam.
Europeans were compelled to search for sea trade routes to Asia to avoid crossing Islamic lands.
Europeans who contributed to the Crusades were exposed to different cultures and languages.

A number of these answers can be true making this question tricky. A number of Europeans who fought in the Crusades were almost certainly exposed to the rigors of life in the Holy Land seeing how Muslims fought, lived, and prayed. Missionaries were sent to China, but this was also done to gather information on trade routes and potential allies against the Muslims.
And conversion was on the minds of the Crusades and the Pope, but one could argue that it was secondary to regaining the Holy Land and finding a way to get to their precious spices without having to deal with the Muslim traders that had a stranglehold on the routes.
So the answer that makes the most sense from this list would probably be the one where Europe was compelled to search for sea trade routes to Asia to avoid crossing Islamic lands. This would set off a huge race to be the first to find a viable sea route to the "Indies" and spur Europe to take greater risks in funding expeditions towards that end, ultimately leading to Christopher Columbus' fateful voyage in 1492. Once the New World was discovered, the rest, as they say, was history.